Security In Iraq, Jul 8-14, 2016

The Iraqi Security Forces made a significant victory in the second week of July 2016. They seized the air base in Qayara, which will be used as a launching pad for further operations into northern Ninewa province with the ultimate goal of taking Mosul. The Islamic State’s spring/Ramadan offensive finally came to an end as well.

There were just 125 security incidents reported in Iraq from July 8-14, 2016. That makes two weeks with very low numbers pointing to the Islamic State’s annual spring offensive having come to an end.

As usual, Baghdad had the most violence with 58 incidents. There were also 18 in Kirkuk, 16 in Diyala, 12 in Anbar, 9 in Salahaddin, 8 in Ninewa, 2 in Babil, 1 in Dhi Qar, and 1 in Wasit.

Those incidents led to 214 dead and 316 wounded. 1 Sahwa, 4 Hashd, 9 Peshmerga, 18 Iraqi Security Forces (ISF), and 182 civilians were killed, and 2 Sahwa, 2 Peshmerga, 12 Hashd, 21 ISF and 279 Civilians were injured.

Baghdad had 94 deaths followed by 57 in Ninewa, 29 in Kirkuk, 17 in Diyala, 9 in Salahaddin, 4 in Babil, 3 in Anbar, and 1 in Wasit.

For the second week there were very few incidents in Anbar with just 12 total. Since Fallujah has been freed the number of attacks launched by the Islamic State have gone way down. Most of the those were in the Hit and Haditha districts in the west where the government’s forces are building up for a push towards the Syrian border where IS holds its past portions of the province. 3 police ended up dead, and one was wounded along with 3 Hashd. The government claimed it killed 5 suicide bombers and destroyed 14 car bombs during the week, but those numbers are regularly inflated. The government’s forces were still trying to clear the rural areas of central Anbar. During the week Albu Risha was freed for the second time this year. IS is constantly re-infiltrating the towns around the major urban areas leading to a back and forth fight for them. Also in Fallujah a member of the Anbar council accused elements of the Hashd of destroying mosques. Six were recently burned and destroyed according to the head of the Anbar council. Since the Islamic State routinely uses mosques it’s unclear whether these incidents were to destroy IEDs or acts of revenge.

Babil province had been very quiet for weeks, but from July 8-14 IS fired mortars at Musayib and killed a mukhtar in Iskandiriya leaving a total of 4 dead.

The Islamic State remained focused upon terrorist and insurgent attacks upon Baghdad. There were 58 incidents leading to 94 deaths and 280 injured. That was actually a decrease in violence compared to previous weeks. During the spring campaign Baghdad was averaging over 10 incidents a day compared to 8 this week. 2 car bombs hit the city, both in Rashidiya, one of the rural towns in the north leaving 20 dead and 60 wounded. IS also launched four suicide bombers against a checkpoint in Taji. Three of the bombers were killed, but one was able to detonate his device.

The center of attacks shifted from the southern section of the province with 19 incidents to the north, 22 incidents. Those were evenly split between the outer towns and the city itself. There were another 9 in the east, 7 in the west, and 1 in the center.

Violence In Baghdad, July 8-14, 2016

Center: 1 – 1 Shooting

East: 8 – 2 Robberies, 2 Shootings, 4 IEDs

Outer East: 1 – 1 IED

North: 11 – 1 Sticky Bomb, 2 Kidnappings, 3 IEDs, 5 Shootings

Outer North: 11 – 1 Suicide Bomber, 1 Sticky Bomb, 1 Shooting, 2 Suicide Car Bombs, 3 Suicide Bombers Killed, 6 IEDs

South: 10 – 3 Shootings, 7 IEDs

Outer South: 9 – 1 Sticky Bomb 8 IEDs

West: 4 – 1 Shooting, 3 IEDs

Outer West: 3 – 3 IEDs

In southern Iraq there are occasional acts of political violence. This week that took place in Dhi Qar where the offices of Asaib Ahl Al-Haq were hit by an IED.

Diyala continued to have increased insurgent activity. There were 16 incidents leading to 17 dead and 7 wounded. A car bomb was found and dismantled in Muqtadiya showing that IS was still attempting mass casualty attacks in the province. The other attacks were the usual mix of shootings and IEDs. IS is mostly using Diyala as a base for its attacks upon Baghdad. The last few car bombs including the Karrada one all originated from the governorate.

There was a large amount of violence in Kirkuk during the week. Usually there are just single digit number of incidents. From July 8-14 there were 18. There was a large number of shootings, 8, and two sticky bombs as well. In total 29 people died and 8 were injured.

The Iraqi forces made major gains in Ninewa. They seized the Qayara air base and freed five towns in the district. This was important for a number of reasons. First, the base is going to be used by the Iraqis and Americans to launch further operations heading towards Mosul. The U.S. is hoping to clean up the airfields and used them for not only attack aircraft but supply planes as well. Second, the move cut off the Hawija district in Kirkuk from IS’s major supply lines to its territory in Ninewa. Third it allowed the Iraqi forces pushing from southern and eastern Ninewa to link up. Fourth, IS hardly put up a fight for the area and seemed in general disarray as they retreated. This is a marked change from previous battles where IS tended to fight very hard before either dying or withdrawing. The militants also executed 65 people during the week, 34 in in the Qayara district.

After a burst of violence over the last two weeks, Salahaddin seemed to calm down during the second week of July. IS attempted to launch some attacks upon the Iraqi forces in Shirqat, which is the last bastion the group still holds in the governorate. It also launched a car bomb and 2 suicide bombers outside of Tikrit, which showed that it was active again in that district once again after it was freed.

For the second week there was an incident in Wasit. This time a policeman was shot and killed. It’s unclear if that was an insurgent attack or something else.

The Baghdad car bombs were the only successful ones during the week. The government said it destroyed another 19.

Violence In Iraq 2015-16

Date	Incidents	Dead	Wounded
JAN	911	2,656	3,032 + 150
FEB	730	2,345	2,366
MAR	820	2,665	2,529
APR	751	2,753	2,621
MAY	674	2,565 + 1,499	1,952 + 646
JUN	708	2,153 + 405	2,174
JUL	688	2,716	3,198 + 4,024
AUG	684	2,440 + 760	1,777
SEP	649	1,731	1,668 + 3,003
OCT	589	1,144	1,555
NOV	530	1,174	1,455 + 124 + 1,322
DEC	553	1,155	1,252 + 5,920
Jan 1-7	150	808	421
Jan 8-14	140	436	417
Jan 15-21	135	275	227
Jan 22-28	132	392	322
Jan 29-31	41	81	334
JAN	598	2,052	1,721
Feb 1-7	146	575	313
Feb 8-14	119	146	323
Feb 15-21	130	225	239
Feb 22-29	153	371	690
FEB	549	1,281	1,566
Mar 1-7	183	321	478
Mar 8-14	168	408	415
Mar 15-21	130	349	409
Mar 22-28	135	213	420
Mar 29-31	49	172	121
MAR	665	1,463	1,843
Apr 1-7	144	239	444
Apr 8-14	141	271	391
Apr 15-21	124	436	242
Apr 22-28	160	413	524
Apr 29-30	30	61	121
APR	599	1,420	1,722
May 1-7	160	325	420
May 8-14	141	311	674
May 15-21	121	349	604
May 22-28	142	200	397
May 29-31	83	119	313
MAY	647	1,304	2,408
Jun 1-7	162	389	1,738
Jun 8-14	132	234	461
Jun 15-21	148	352	497
Jun 22-28	119	277	362
Jun 29-30	36	409	125
JUN	598	1,666	6,315
Jul 1-7	114	463	633
Jul 8-14	125	214	316

Security By Province July 8-14, 2016

Province	Incidents
Anbar	12 Incidents 3 Killed: 3 ISF 4 Wounded: 1 ISF, 3 Hashd 5 Shootings 1 IED 5 Suicide Bombers Killed 14 Car Bombs Destroyed
Babil	2 Incidents 4 Killed: 4 Civilians 1 Shooting 1 Mortar
Baghdad	58 Incidents 94 Killed: 1 Sahwa, 1 Hashd, 11 ISF 280 Wounded: 2 Sahwa, 12 ISF, 266 Civilians 13 Shootings 35 IEDs 3 Sticky Bombs 1 Suicide Bomber 2 Suicide Car Bombs 3 Suicide Bombers Killed
Dhi Qar	1 Incident 1 IED
Diyala	16 Incidents 17 Killed: 2 ISF, 15 Civilians 7 Wounded: 3 ISF, 4 Civilians 9 Shootings 4 IEDs 1 Mortar 1 Car Bombs Dismantled
Kirkuk	18 Incidents 29 Killed: 1 ISF, 2 Peshmerga, 26 Civilians 8 Wounded: 1 Peshmerga, 7 Civilians 8 Shootings 1 IED 2 Sticky Bombs 1 Mortar
Ninewa	8 Incidents 57 Killed: 5 Peshmerga, 52 Civilians 7 Wounded: 2 Civilians, 5 ISF 5 Shootings 1 IED 1 Rocket 1 Mortar 1 Suicide Bomber Killed 2 Car Bombs Destroyed
Salahaddin	9 Incidents 9 Killed: 2 Peshmerga, 3 Hashd, 4 Civilians 10 Wounded: 1 Peshmerga, 9 Hashd 2 Shootings 2 IEDs 1 Rockets 1 Mortar 6 Suicide Bombers Killed 1 Suicide Car Bomb Destroyed 1 Car Bomb Destroyed
Wasit	1 Incident 1 Killed: 1 ISF 1 Shooting

Car Bombs In Iraq July 2016

Date	Car Bombs	Dead	Wounded
Jul 1	Sheikh Ali, Taloul al-Baj, Salahaddin – 9 destroyed
Jul 2	Khalidiya Island, Anbar – 4 destroyed Tal Skurf, Ninewa – 5 destroyed Makhoul, Salahaddin – 1 destroyed
Jul 3	Karrada, Baghdad Jawaanh, Anbar – 3 destroyed	292	200
Jul 4	Khan Bani Saad & north of Baquba, Diyala – 2 destroyed Makhoul, Salahaddin – 1 destroyed
Jul 5	Haditha Dist, Anbar – 2 destroyed
Jul 6	Jazeera, Anbar – 3 destroyed Shirqat, Salahaddin - 2 destroyed
Jul 7
Totals	1 – 32 Destroyed	292	200
Jul 8	Hit, Anbar – 4 destroyed Alam & Shirqat, Salahaddin – 2 Destroyed
Jul 9
Jul 10
Jul 11	Muqtadiya, Diyala – 1 Destroyed
Jul 12	Rashidiya, Baghdad	12	37
Jul 13	Rashidiya, Baghdad Albu Alwan & Hit, Anbar – 5 Destroyed	8	23
Jul 14	Hit, Anbar – 5 Destroyed Qayara, Ninewa – 2 Destroyed
Totals	2 – 18 Destroyed	20	60

SOURCES

AIN, “Urgent parliamentary defense committee: Karrada bomb not discovered by sniffer dogs at checkpoint,” 7/12/16

Alsumaria, "Anbar operations announces freeing region of Albu Risha north of Ramadi," 7/8/16

Buratha News, "A car bomb driven by a terrorist targeting the joint forces in the area Tlul Alpag, northern Salahuddin," 7/8/16

- "The martyrdom of three women in the fall of mortar shells in the residential area in Musayyib," 7/13/16

Iraq Oil Report, "IS in disarray in Qayarah after Iraqis push north of key air base," 7/11/16

- “As wellheads burn, Iraqi forces retake Qayarah air base,” 7/11/16

Al Jazeera, "Iraq: ISIL claims deadly checkpoint attack near Baghdad," 7/13/16

Lamothe, Dan and Morris, Loveday, “Pentagon will send hundreds more troops to Iraq following seizure of key airfield,” Washington Post, 7/11/16

Al Maalomah, "15 Daash members killed and four car bombs destroyed western Anbar," 7/8/16

- "29 Daash killed and the destruction of five car bombs in aerial attacks west of Ramadi," 7/14/16

- "Anbar security: the destruction of two car bombs and the dismantling of hundreds of improvised explosive devices in homes west of Fallujah," 7/13/16

- "The dismantling of a car bomb amid Muqdadiyah," 7/11/16

- "Foiled Daash attack in Alam district southern Salahaddin," 7/8/16

Al Masalah, "Aircraft destroyed vehicles and car bombs western Anbar," 7/13/16

NINA, "/4/ suicide bomber killed in one of the checkpoints in Taji area north of Baghdad," 7/13/16

- "A bomb explosion in front of Asaib Ahl Al-Haq office in Shatra north of Nasiriyah without losses," 7/10/16

- "Gunmen Kills A Policeman North Of Kut," 7/10/16

- "The injury of a Mukhtar in Alexandria area north of Babylon by gunmen," 7/10/16

- "Urgent…/18/ terrorists killed, two car bombs destroyed in the houses of the air base near Qayyarah," 7/14/16

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, "At Least 12 Killed By Bombings In, Around Baghdad," 7/13/16

Reuters, “Iraqi forces link up south of Mosul, tightening noose around Islamic State,” 7/13/16

Rudaw, “Shiite militia accused of destroying mosques in Fallujah,” 7/9/16

Salaheddin, Sinan, "Iraq PM Says Key Base taken Back From Islamic State," Associated Press, 7/9/16

- "Iraq: Suicide Bombing in Baghdad Shiite District Kills 12," Associated Press, 7/12/16

Sotaliraq, “Popular crowd: accusations of demolishing mosques in Fallujah untrue,” 7/10/16